Year: 2025

Regatta Report – by Lee Hope

San Diego Yacht Club hosted the annual California State Championships over the 12, 13 weekend of September.  The regatta attracted sailors from Newport Beach and a sailor from Las Vegas.

The sailing venue was in the ocean, yet closer in to shore than usual as the sail in can prove exhausting after a full day of racing.  Day 1 required a tow out to the race course and filled in after a short postponement out of the southwest.  The fleet sailed four races, with a consistent velocity ranging from 6-10 knots all day.  Rob Coutts, coming off European Finn sailing adventures, won every race.  Rob draws the line on only sailing 3 races, and sailed in after the 3^rd race posting a DNS.

Day 2 the breeze filled in earlier coming out of the a more westerly direction, typically favoring the right side of the course.

Phil Ramming, NHYC and Bob Martin, MBYC were really dueling for 2^nd , as Rob posted a 2,1 in the 1^st 2 races.  The last race Rob surprisingly flipped on the last downwind leg. He righted his boat and beat 3 boats to win the regatta by 2 points.  Bob and Phil tied in points with Bob winning the tie breaker.

The 57^th Annual Toilet Bowl regatta was held August 14-16 at Willow Bank Yacht Club it was also the North East Regional Championship. We had 15 Finns that showed up from all across the eastern seaboard, one true Canadian, one Massachusetts Canadian as well as a Midwesterner.

First day wind was northerly ranging from 0-10 knots with shifts of 5-20 degrees from right to left. Derek Mess (using the class Devoti)  lead from the start in the first race and never let Rodi get by. Second race was won by Stephen Smeulders in his first regatta since breaking his leg/ankle surgery last fall. Great to see him back and still sailing fast. Rodi hit his form in the third race and lead from wire to wire.  Awesome fish fry that night with club members, with a bunch of great conversations.

Second day was a touch warmer, with many competitors swimming to stay cool between races.  Wind was all over the place ranging from 0-18 knots. The race committee pulled off three races before the wind shut down completely. Shorter courses and a few shortening of courses helped that. First race went to Chuck Rudinsky.  The wind shifted 180 degrees and the down wind became up wind with Chuck picking up a nice shift on the left hand side leaving the fleet I the dust. Second race, a squall line came through in the middle of the race, making the course more of a reach/reach situation, but the rain and planing conditions were fun.  Rodi was fast and had a pretty good lead at the finish. The third race was light air and streaky; you really had to get to the puff to make gains.  Rodi was on

    fire finishing first. On the last downwind leg, Gus Miller sailed by a majority of the fleet and finished third, proving that age is just a number. Rodi had a quick set up clinic after racing giving the competitors his secrets. Dinner was at a local restaurant which had amazing food, with great discussions about the Finn amongst the fleet.

Third day was started early with very little breeze from the west with prediction it was going to go more northerly and build as the day went on. First race was shortened due to lack of wind with Luke Buxton taking the gun. Second race was more the same but with a right hand shift making the second leg a one, maybe two tack beat. Luke Buxton repeated as winner. As it usually goes, the wind picked up just as we were finishing for the day.

Awards were held after sailing Sunday and most people were on the road by 2-3. It was nice to get home at 7:30 rather then midnight.

Overall it was a fun regatta, Bill Smith and the team at Willow Bank yacht club did a great job running and hosting the event. For those who haven’t gone to this regatta should get it on their schedule for next season. The town/restaurants/hotels are walking distance to the club and the club had a great family vibe to it.

Some observations:

-Ken Legler (past Tufts coach) always said count to ten before tacking on a lake, several times a puff would hit and it would seem to be a header but after about 5 seconds it was back to course or lifted.

-Sail to the puff, The puffs were not traveling fast so you had to get to them to take advantage, Chuck did that in the third race and I did that in race 7/8, I let three boats cross to get to it.

-Set the boat up at base and pulled the mast shims to let the mast rake back further, Rodi wasn’t too concerned with tension, but said to rake the mast back. I was at my aft most setting of 30mm

-Don’t be afraid to tack/jibe close to the marks, a slight shift can pick up boat length here/there. If the roll is done properly you can also increase speed coming out of the tack/jibe.

Any body else want to chime in here please do so, the more comments the better.

Luke Buxton

Join the fun and action at the Gales Family One Design Regatta at MBYC on August 16,17.  Ten Finns registered so far and there is still room for more!

Registration on Clubspot here!

The Toilet Bowl  and East Coast Regional Championship Regattas are held concurrently this year at Willow Bank Yacht Club in Cazenovia, NY from Friday to Sunday – three days of racing on Cazenovia Lake in the Finger Lake Region.   Fifteen people are registered so far but there is still time to join the competition and the fun in Central New York next weekend!

For your planning convenience, find a downloadable PDF schedule of the US Finn Regatta Schedule for 2025.  All the regattas in the file are already on the website under events but this PDF summarizes the regattas in one file to help with planning.  As new regattas are updated, the PDF will be updated under the same link.

2025 US Finn Regatta Schedule PDF Landscape

2025 US Finn Regatta Schedule PDF _Portrait

Greetings USAFA Members and Friends,

During informal conversations at and following the 2025 U.S. Nationals at Key Biscayne Yacht Club, several sailors expressed strong interest in attending the 2026 Gold Cup in Brisbane, Australia.

The Gold Cup is scheduled for February 12–19, 2026 and will be immediately followed by the Finn World Masters from February 20–27, 2026. Additionally, the Australian National Championship, serving as a warm-up regatta, is planned for February 7–12, 2026.

To support a seamless sailing season and encourage maximum participation from North American sailors, USAFA has worked with local fleets to organically schedule major USAFA events as follows:
• October 2025 – North American Championship in Newport Beach, CA. Boats will be shipped to Australia immediately after.
• January 2026 – Boats arrive in Australia.
• February 2026 – Participation in Australian Finn events (Nationals, Gold Cup, World Masters).
• April 2026 – Boats return to the U.S.
• May 2026 – U.S. Nationals in Long Beach, CA.

The club website is: https://www.rqys.com.au
The Event website with entry forms, Notice of Race is here: https://www.rqys.com.au/international-finn-2026-events/

The projected transportation cost for a round-trip shipment of one boat (based on stacking nine boats per container) is approximately $1,500. The final market price can only be finalized no more than 60 days before the shipment date.

Given the time commitment, financial costs, and physical demands of competing in three back-to-back events, it is expected that most sailors will choose to participate in either the Gold Cup or the World Masters, rather than both. This opens an opportunity for two sailors to share the transport cost by shipping one hull with two masts, each using the same boat for different events.

If you are interested in attending any or all of the 2026 Australian events, please contact Phillip Ramming at rpramming@gmail.com. Phil is the primary point of contact for coordinating the shipping logistics to Australia.

Rob McMillan, International Finn President from Australia, reports that to date, approximately 60 boats from Europe have expressed strong interest in attending, and 50 Australians are expected. The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in Brisbane is a fantastic venue with plenty of real estate to store boats for as long as needed. The local fleet has arranged volunteers to meet the containers when they arrive, unpack them if necessary for customs, and transport them to the Club for storage. It is a very welcoming / sailor-oriented Club. He says sea breezes from 12 to 18 are standard for that time of year.

The Gold Cup will be sailed in open water outside Green Island. The Masters Worlds will be inside Green Island in more protected waters.

We hope to see a strong North American presence in Australia!

Very respectfully,
Rodion Mazin
USAFA President

First and foremost, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all members of the USAFA who placed their trust in me with their votes during the 2025 USAFA Annual General Meeting. Together, we engaged in meaningful discussions and approved significant updates to the USAFA bylaws, alongside forwarding valuable proposals to the IFA. Stay tuned for more details, courtesy of our exceptional secretary, Anna Broughton.

Next, we owe a tremendous thank you to the Key Biscayne Yacht Club for hosting a spectacular regatta. Their efforts seemingly won the favor of Poseidon, Boreas, and Eurus, blessing us with a diverse range of sailing conditions. This showcased a true test of skill and determination, ultimately crowning the finest Finn sailor in the U.S.

I also wish to convey my deep appreciation to Robert McMillan, the current IFA President, who journeyed to Miami with a clear purpose: to strengthen the IFA and advance its mission. A formidable competitor, Robert brought intensity to the racecourse, and it was an honor to meet and challenge him on the water.

As we look forward to an exciting summer of sailing, I’m thrilled to announce that we’ve elected an outstanding team of Vice Presidents. I’m confident their leadership will energize USAFA’s grassroots initiatives and further expand Finn sailing across the U.S.

To those considering whether to join the Finn class and measure your abilities against some of the world’s top single-handed sailors, now is the perfect time. The U.S. offers numerous affordable options to get started. Embrace the Finn—it’s a rewarding challenge that hones your skills, deepens your understanding of the forces acting on a boat, and sharpens your edge not only in this class but in others as well.

Keep sailing, and keep thriving.

Rodion Mazin
USAFA President

The 2025 US Finn Association AGM Minutes are now available at this link.

Highlights:

1- 2026 Regatta decision has been tabled until the Master’s regatta in Fairhope, AL since there were not enough options at the time of the meeting.

2- The states without significant Finn Fleets are merged into existing regions and reorganized.  Texas is absorbed into the Gulf Region.

3 – New VP’s were announced for East – Luke Buxton, Southeast – Fabio Prada, Midwest – Peter Frissell, Gulf – David Hickman.

4- Officers Elected – Rodion Mazin for President, Peter Frissell for Treasurer, and Anna Broughton for Secretary.

5- Dues to remain at the same level – $100